System and method for implementing an interbank information network

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to creating a secure, decentralized, cloud-based network or physical/virtual infrastructure that enables the payments industry to redefine payment processing and information sharing. The innovative network addresses key pain points by reducing payment delays and touch points, realizing faster and comprehensive payment tracking, real-time sanctions, AML and fraud management tools.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application62/523,429 (Attorney Docket No. 72167.001239), filed Jun. 22, 2017, thecontents of which are incorporated herein in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to a system and method for implementingan Interbank Information Network (IIN).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Generally, banks require detailed information to perform a fullvalidation for a transaction. When a payment comes in, the payment getstracked for a variety of different reasons like sanctions, fraud,incorrect amount information, etc. If an issue is detected, currentsystems require operators and/or client service representatives tomanually complete a payment validation. The current process involvesmultiple participants, intermediaries and usually takes several days tocomplete. There is no mechanisms for banks to exchange informationefficiently and securely for transaction validation and/or otherfunctions.

These and other drawbacks currently exist.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one embodiment, the invention relates to an interbankinformation network that provides a secure and decentralized network.The system comprises: a first bank node communicatively coupled to afirst in-bank system; the first bank node comprises: a client internalsystem that communicates with application business logic via anapplication programing interface (API); and a blockchain node thatsupports a permissioned shared ledger and a private database thatcontains transactional, customer and personally identifiable information(PII); a second bank node communicatively coupled to a second in-banksystem; and an interbank information network that establishes a directcommunication channel between the first node and the second node.

Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to a method thatimplements an interbank information network architecture that provides asecure and decentralized network. The method comprises the steps of:provisioning a first bank node communicatively coupled to a firstin-bank system; the first bank node comprises: a client internal systemthat communicates with application business logic via an applicationprograming interface (API); and a blockchain node that supports apermissioned shared ledger and a private database that containstransactional, customer and personally identifiable information (PII);provisioning a second bank node communicatively coupled to a secondin-bank system; and establishing, an interbank information network, adirect communication channel between the first node and the second node.

The system may include a specially programmed computer system comprisingone or more computer processors, mobile devices, electronic storagedevices, and networks.

The computer implemented system, method and medium described hereinprovide unique advantages to account holding customers, according tovarious embodiments of the invention. An embodiment of the presentinvention is directed to creating a secure and decentralized networkthat enables the payments industry to redefine payment processing andinformation sharing. The innovative Interbank Information Network alignswith value proposition expected from distributed ledger technology incorrespondent banking. The Interbank Information Network furthersimplifies operation processing, real-time compliance monitoring,enhanced risk tolerance, and improved client services. The networkmitigates operational pain points (e.g., slow, manual, opaque, costly)to drive and increase operational efficiency (e.g., payment validation,fraud control, routing, client service/investigations, reconciliation,messaging, reporting, etc.). These and other advantages will bedescribed more fully in the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to facilitate a fuller understanding of the present invention,reference is now made to the attached drawings. The drawings should notbe construed as limiting the present invention, but are intended only toillustrate different aspects and embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 1 is an exemplary diagram that illustrates a current inquiryprocess.

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of an Interbank InformationNetwork, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary diagram that illustrates a logical view of a nodeof an Interbank Information Network, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary flow diagram of an inquiry process, according toan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary diagram that illustrates sanctions inquiry andinformation gathering process, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary flow diagram of an account validation process,according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary illustration of a validation use case, accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an exemplary illustration of a fraud check use case, accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an exemplary payment tracking, according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)

The following description is intended to convey an understanding of thepresent invention by providing specific embodiments and details. It isunderstood, however, that the present invention is not limited to thesespecific embodiments and details, which are exemplary only. It isfurther understood that one possessing ordinary skill in the art, inlight of known systems and methods, would appreciate the use of theinvention for its intended purposes and benefits in any number ofalternative embodiments, depending upon specific design and other needs.

FIG. 1 is an exemplary diagram that illustrates a current inquiryprocess. As shown in FIG. 1, there are multiple steps that are requiredto obtain customer-related information when there is an inquiry, such asa payment related compliance inquiry. FIG. 1 illustrates an interactionand exchange of data between and among Remitter 110, Remitter Bank 112,Institution 114, Beneficiary Bank 116 and Beneficiary 118. Interactionsmay include data request, data exchange and data remittance. As shown inFIG. 1, Institution 114 may have a payment review process that triggersa compliance action. Data may be requested from Remitter Bank 112 andRemitter Bank 112 may then request data from Remitter 110. Remitter 110and Beneficiary 118 may communicate to obtain Personally IdentifiableInformation (PII), this process is currently a manual process and maytake two to 16 days to complete. Remitter 110 sends data to RemitterBank 112 and Remitter Bank 112 may then send data to Institution 114.Institution 114 may receive information and make a determination toproceed, further investigate or hold. In addition, each interaction mayfollow a different non-standard message format and channel with possibletranslation and/or communication failure points. Because PII iscommunicated across various individuals and systems, delays areexperienced between communications.

With the current banking model, no single bank can facilitate globaltransfers, requiring money to flow through multiple banks to reach thefinal beneficiary The current process is opaque, inefficient, andcostly. The disjointed flow requires payment related inquiries (e.g.,status, fraud, compliance) to back-track the flow of funds to theremitter. Multiple parties result in redundancy as each bank replicatesrisk management, liquidity management, clearing/settlement, andmessaging.

Banks that process payments are required to perform screening againstsanction lists in real-time. For potential issues, the current processinvolves a manual review which may involve querying one or moreentities. For example, a current process may involve a remitting banksending a request to a remitter, who then contacts the beneficiary foradditional information. The beneficiary returns the requestedinformation, which is then received by the remitter and sent to theremitter bank. The process may also occur across borders and countries,which adds further complexities.

An embodiment of the present invention is directed to an InterbankInformation Network (IIN) where information may be shared through anetwork that complements existing functions. Sample uses may includefraud (e.g., known fraudster), validation (e.g., account number, name,currency (CCY) and status validation), sanctions (e.g., account details,name, address, date of birth (DOB), entity), tracking (e.g., track andtrace payment status), clearing, settlement, advising, fraud monitoring,anti-money laundering, FX market, liquidity lending, node operating riskrating, etc.

An embodiment of the present invention is directed to creating a secureand decentralized network that facilitates and improves informationsharing, payment processing, value exchange and other actions. Thenetwork may represent a cloud-based network, a physical or virtualinfrastructure as well as other flexible network hosting system. TheInterbank Information Network simplifies operation processing, real-timecompliance monitoring, enhanced risk tolerance, and improved clientservices. The network mitigates operational pain points (e.g., slow,manual, opaque, costly) to drive and increase operational efficiency(e.g., payment validation, fraud control, routing, clientservice/investigations, reconciliation, messaging, reporting, etc.);leverages solutions to benefit other global funds transfer that join thedistributed ledger technology; and performs concurrent processing forincreased throughput. The network manages anti-money laundering (AML)risk prior to processing payment; provides shared “information cloud” tosupport Straight Through Processing (STP), AML and Office of ForeignAsset Control (OFAC) investigation requests; mitigates the need forre-screening with OFAC Smart Check; and reduces the expense ofcompliance processing through offering a shared utility model. Withenhanced real-time controls in place, the bank may more rapidly expandand take greater risks as client flows may be managed tightly and riskyclients may be identified and dealt with timely. The network realizesreduced delays from documentation requirements and enhanced transparencyof full end-to-end payment processing from clients.

In addition, Interbank Clearing and Settlement functions optimizetreasury liquidity usage and monitoring, improve client services anddefend global funds transfer portfolio. Corresponding banking clearingand settlement occurs in different channels and at different times withmultiple hops with non-partners creating lack of final settlementvisibility interbank. Distributed ledger technology (DLT) networkpreserves payment atomicity. Real-time visibility of settlement allowsimproved liquidity visibility that drives better liquidity management.Interbank Clearing and Settlement functions provide predictability,reduce delays from extended hops through reduced global funds transferintermediaries, realize potential for 24/7 real-time payments, andcheaper deducted fees through reduced intermediaries. First to marketprovides positioning for additional foreign exchange (FX) revenuecorridors. Banks may define how charging options exist in the newinfrastructure of an embodiment of the present invention. The networkfurther provides an opportunity for banks to capture an operator fee forprocessing.

The following descriptions provide different configurations and featuresaccording to exemplary embodiments. While certain nomenclature and typesof applications/hardware are described, other names andapplication/hardware usage is possible and the nomenclature provided isdone so by way of non-limiting examples only. Further, while particularembodiments are described, it should be appreciated that the featuresand functions of each embodiment may be combined in any combination asis within the capability of one of ordinary skill in the art. Thefigures provide additional exemplary details regarding the presentinvention. It should also be appreciated that these exemplaryembodiments are provided as non-limiting examples only.

Various exemplary methods are provided by way of example herein. Thesemethods are exemplary as there are a variety of ways to carry outmethods according to the present disclosure. The methods depicted anddescribed can be executed or otherwise performed by one or a combinationof various systems and modules. Each block shown in the methodsrepresents one or more processes, decisions, methods or subroutinescarried out in the exemplary method, and these processes, decisions,methods or subroutines are not necessarily carried out in the specificorder outlined in the methods, nor is each of them required.

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of an Interbank InformationNetwork, according to an embodiment of the present invention. Existingpayment processing functions may be enhanced through the InterbankInformation Network that ensures fully validated and formatted paymentsare entering the payments infrastructure. FIG. 2 illustrates an enhancedcollaborative process with numerous benefits to participants within theInterbank Information Network. FIG. 2 illustrates a compliance processwith a global network, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. As shown in FIG. 2, Interbank Information Network 202 mayinclude various nodes, such as Remitter Bank 212, Node 214, Node 216,Node 218, Corresponding Bank 220 and Beneficiary Bank 222. In thisexample, Remitter 210 may make a request to Remitter Bank 212 which thencommunicates to Beneficiary Bank 212 on behalf of Beneficiary 224,through Network 212. Nodes may represent a bank, financial institution,a corporate entity, a regulator, government entity and/or otherparticipant of Network 202. For example, a government entity may accesspayment audit data and perform other monitoring and supervisory tasks.Different counterparties in a transaction (e.g., nodes including debitnodes, credit nodes as well as regulators) may have access totransaction-level information. Encryption and/or decryption may beperformed on each node. In addition, a node may represent anadministrator node.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a bank, thirdparty, regulator or other entity may serve as an administrator node.This node may manage and monitor shared pieces of data that may need toexist across a network platform. According to another example, aregulator may ping (or message) each bank when an audit or other inquiryis needed as opposed to accessing the network. An administrator node maycontrol permissions associated with the network. For example, theadministrator node may maintain a whitelist of nodes that can exchangeinformation and perform other actions.

As shown in FIG. 2, an embodiment of the present invention mayfacilitate the exchange of payment related details and inquiries betweentwo or more participants as to relates to a payment or potential paymentand a compliance inquiry. A payment review process may trigger acompliance inquiry, as shown by 226 through Correspondent Bank 220.Correspondent Bank 220 may request data from Beneficiary Bank 222.Network 202 may validate the request per agreed terms and furthermaintain encrypted, time-stamped records for permissioned parties. Theinquiry response may be routed back to Corresponding Bank 220 throughNetwork 202 using secure permission based protocols. Beneficiary Bank222 may receive requests, access bank's encrypted data and respond toinquiries, e.g., name, date-of-birth, etc. Other data attributes mayinclude account status, name, address details, name matching conditions,currency, account open date, account activity factors, etc. Network 202enables a peer to peer exchange of information, thereby expediting thetime to process queries and settlement payments. In addition, Network202 facilitates the exchange of information between a participantprocessing a payment or potential payment and another networkparticipant that is servicing an account under query. Correspondent Bank220 may receive information and make a determination to proceed, furtherinvestigate or hold. The network illustrated in FIG. 2 provides variousbenefits relating to customer experience, security, automatedintegration, verified information, information exchange associated withunderlying transaction. For example, an embodiment of the presentinvention reduces inquiry turn-around times, payment delays and clientengagement. The system further provides enhanced security of personalinformation across a secure encrypted network; systematic data exchangethat eliminates manual processes and reduced costs; leveragesinstitutionally sourced and validated customer and customer informationand exchange of information and communication about in-processtransactions.

The network of FIG. 2 provides real-time access to data to integrateinto banking systems/operations in order to improve efficiency (e.g.,drive STP, reduce errors, delays); platform and infrastructure thatprovides back-office services to participants and services to enable thetrust of counter-parties or systems without in-house due-diligencedemands. Moreover, the network provides peer-to-peer movement,streamlined messaging, liquidity management, active risk/compliancemanagement and shared utilize functions.

The network of FIG. 2 further creates a global distributed network thatallows for a seamless, interconnected flow of money eliminating the needfor multiple banks. Blockchain enables creation of a globalinterconnected network without the need for multiple intermediaries,while enhancing transparency of the end to end flow. Information may beencrypted and shared privately among two or more participants within anetwork of nodes. In addition, shared utility functions move redundantprocesses (e.g., sanctions, compliance, validations, etc.) to thenetwork level, enabling faster execution at lower costs. The real-timeinterconnected network enables informed, real-time risk management.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary diagram that illustrates a logical view of a nodeof an Interbank Information Network, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. As shown in FIG. 3, Network 302 may include variousnodes, representing banks, financial institutions and other entities.Node 310 represents Client A. Client A may represent a bank, forexample. Node 310 may include a client interactions system 312. Clientenvironment may include Client Internal Systems 314 with client businesssystems represented by 316 and 318. These systems may communicate toApplication Business Logic 340 via API 320 as well as Client User 322through API 324. Application Business Logic 340 may communicate withdecentralized applications (e.g., payments compliance inquiry, etc.) andcorresponding databases represented by 342, 344 and 346. Blockchain Node350 may support a permissioned shared ledger 352 and private database354, which may contain transactional, customer and PI data. For example,each node may retain a full copy of information on the ledger to whichthey are privy.

An embodiment of the present invention implements ledger posting on theInterbank Information Network. Additional details of shared ledgerposting are provided in commonly owned and currently pending applicationU.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/797,602 (Attorney Docket No.72167.001337), filed Oct. 30, 2017, which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Application 62/414,398, filed Oct. 28, 2016, the contents ofwhich are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

The network and IIN platform may be accessed through a secureweb-interface or through a secure API integration into bankingapplications or services. The network may apply a two-way SSL forweb-interface and API with independent web-application deployment foreach participant that may include access to web-interface restricted towhite-listed IP addresses only for approved and onboarded participantsas well as approved participants and users will leverage log-incredentials to access UI and certificates/keys for API. Node access keysmay be secured in a key-vault that is accessible per the process asdefined by the network operating model.

As shown in FIG. 3, a network participant, such as Client A, may securea connection to Network 302 and applications via a web-interface or API.Client A may access enrolled business applications to inquire/requestinformation. Blockchain node 350 may validate, check permissions andobtain consensus. Blockchain node 350 may record and publish inquiryactivity (e.g., hash) onto the public ledger 352, which may then bereplicated on each node. Blockchain node 350 may deliver private inquirydetails to permissioned participants' secure private store. A receivingnetwork participant, such as Client B, may respond by securing aconnection to network 302 and applications via a web-interface or API toreview the request and action accordingly. A corresponding blockchainnode may then deliver private inquiry details to permissionedparticipants' secure private store. Network participant, such as ClientA, may then receive the inquiry response and action accordingly.

The Interbank Information Network represents a technology platformdesigned to increase the efficiency of payment related processes andqueries by providing an alternative communication channel to exchangepayment and customer related information in a peer to peer model througha blockchain based platform. The platform enables any networkparticipant to communicate and exchange queries and information directlywith any other network participant on the network utilizing the networkconnectivity and application models. For example, Participant A maycommunicate to send/receive queries/data with Participant B and/orParticipant C. Participant B may communicate to send/receivequeries/data with Participant A and/or Participant C. Participant C maycommunicate to send/receive queries/data with Participant A and/orParticipant B.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the InterbankInformation Network may leverage a core blockchain based technology toachieve security, resiliency, consensus and immutability. Each clienttechnology asset may be deployed in its own virtual private network andserver infrastructure. For example, a single hosting model may utilize adedicated private third-party infrastructure established for networkparticipants. The nodes may be hosted by a third party hosting providerat a data center. The IIN platform may support a variety of hostingmodels based on a participant's preference (e.g., on-premise, thirdparty, public-cloud, private-cloud, etc.).

FIG. 3 may further represent a cloud-based network or physical/virtualinfrastructure where each bank represents a node in the network.According to an exemplary application, the network may be layered on ablockchain platform. Each bank node may be connected through an API orsecure integration layer to that bank's particular node representationin the network. With the blockchain platform, each bank node may shareinformation privately, without an intermediary or data managementprovider. Accordingly, each bank node may connect directly and thereforereceive and/or access data from another bank node to perform validation,fraud, sanction, tracking, etc. The blockchain platform enables a banknode to send encrypted information directly to a particular bank node.The network verifies messages from a bank node to another bank node. Anembodiment of the present invention is directed to securely sharingsensitive information between bank nodes. FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate anexemplary node configuration. Other node configurations may beimplemented to address various scenarios, applications and situations.

According to the various embodiments of the present invention, exemplaryuse cases may include validation and fraud; sanctions inquiries andpayment tracking. For example, the innovative network provides validaccount acknowledgement with beneficiary name/addressvalidations/enrichment reduces payment delays and returns as well ascomplete, valid name, address. The innovative network provides proactivevalidation against network wide fraudster list. The network reducesfraud payments by leveraging network wide fraudster lists shared inreal-time. The innovative network provides fast and efficient sanctionsinquiry information leveraging a bank's client information system (CIS)or other system that contains client information. For example, each nodemay maintain a corresponding sanction list (or other information).According to another embodiment, the network may maintain a singlesanction list that may be accessed by any node in the network. Accordingto yet another example, each node may maintain a portion of the sanctionlist. Other variations may be implemented. The network further reducespayment delays and achieves faster clearing of false positives. Thenetwork enables automated inquiry resolution by leveraging standardizedmessaging and data model for key data elements. The innovative networkprovides real time access to payment stages across related banks andfurther provides proactive management of payment tracking inquiries.

Information may be shared in parallel to existing external messaging andsettlement networks to ensure in-bank reconciliation. Each node may beresponsible for in-bank user access to node functions. The networkmaintains a list of nodes that may participate in network. Informationmay be populated in various ways by banks, via transaction referencedata (e.g., enhanced real-time control validation data, etc.);non-transaction reference data (e.g., fraud attach list, accountreference, etc.) and/or other means.

An embodiment of the present invention may process and share differentclassifications of data. For example, the network of an embodiment ofthe present invention may receive data based on a pull request or pushrequest. A pull request may include a request for information to a banknode. A push request may include a situation where a node maintainspreemptive populated data that is provided in anticipation of a request.Another classification of data may include whether a node is sharingcontent or an acknowledgement. For example, a bank node may request anaccount number. A responding node may provide the content, e.g., accountnumber. An acknowledgement may involve a bank node requestingconfirmation or acknowledgement of an account number.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary flow diagram of an inquiry process, according toan embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplaryinteraction between an inquirer and a responder. Communication may beprovided by API connectivity or user interface to a blockchain network.Network Participant 412 may submit an evidence of payment at 414. Dataelements may be defined, at step 416. Data elements may include fullname, date of birth, full address, place of birth, etc. The inquiry maybe submitted and received by Network Participant 420, at step 418.Network Participant 420 may then create a response, at step 422. NetworkParticipant 412 may then view the response, at step 424 and then rendera decision at 426.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary diagram that illustrates sanctions inquiry andinformation gathering process, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. As shown in FIG. 5, Bank A 510 may send a private messagesuch as a sanctions inquiry may be shared. Bank A may maintain variousapplications, systems and/or databases, including a customer informationapplication 512. The message may include a request for beneficiaryinformation, as shown by 514. A receiving node, Bank B Node 518, mayreceive the request and perform the requested process. For example, astager of Bank B Node may modify the request and represent the requestas a smart contract. The stager may represent an API or securecommunication layer. The smart contract captures business logic andinitiates the specific request accordingly. In this example, the stagerof a receiving node may receive the inquiry and then retrieve therequested information using client information application 522maintained by Beneficiary System 520. As shown in FIG. 5, a privatemessage may be sent from a Bank B Node 518 to Bank A 510. The response,as shown by 516, may include an account holder's name, address, etc.FIG. 5 illustrates a secure process for receiving and responding to asanctions inquiry in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary flow diagram of an account validation process,according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 illustratesan exemplary interaction between an inquirer and a responder.Communication may be provided by API connectivity or user interface to ablockchain network. Network Participant 612 may submit a request at step614. The request may be an account validation, e.g., whether an accountis valid or not, as shown by 616. The inquiry may be submitted andreceived, at step 618. Network Participant 620 may then create aresponse, at step 622. The response may include whether the accountnumber is valid or not and whether the name is a match or the namediffers in what respect. Network Participant 612 may then view theresponse, at step 624 and then render a decision at 626.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary illustration of a validation use case, accordingto an embodiment of the present invention. Bank A 710 through paymentinformation application 712 may request account validation from anotherbank, represented by Bank B Node 718. Upon receiving request 714, Bank BNode 718 may access client information application 722 and generate aresponse as shown by 716. An exemplary detailed payment message is shownat 730. The information is sent and stored in an encrypted format.Decryption keys may be sent separately to Authorized Nodes.

FIG. 8 is an exemplary illustration of a fraud check use case, accordingto an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 8, anembodiment of the present invention is directed to fraud check,beneficiary account validation and address enrichment within theInterbank Information Network of an embodiment of the present invention.In the exemplary fraud use case, information is sent and stored in anencrypted format. Decryption keys may be sent separately to AuthorizedNodes. Bank A 810 through payment information application 812 mayrequest fraud information from an administrator node, represented by818. Upon receiving request 814, Administrator 818 may access authorizednodes and network shared fraudster list and generate a response as shownby 816. An exemplary detailed payment message is shown at 830.

FIG. 9 is an exemplary payment tracking, according to an embodiment ofthe present invention. As shown in FIG. 9, status information may beupdated by each related entity in real-time. Bank A 910 through paymentinformation application 912 may request status information from anotherbank, represented by Bank B 920. Upon receiving a request, BeneficiaryBank 922 may provide a status response in real time.

Additional applications may include validation, optimization, liquidity,foreign exchange (FX), tokens, invoicing, service level agreement (SLA)tracking and agreements and intraday reporting. For validation, anembodiment of the present invention may determine whether an account isreal, open or closed; determine how long an account has existed; nameand account match; perform integration with early warning services (EWS)and other directories for low value payments; integration with eWallets,payment risk score service, etc.

According to an exemplary illustration, a corporate entity may connectto a number of e-wallet applications. For example, a corporate entitymay initiate a payment from an online payment system in the US to mobilepayment application in China. The Interbank Information Network of anembodiment of the present invention may facilitate payment between theonline payment system and the mobile payment application.

For optimization, an embodiment of the present invention may performoptimized payment routing; Financial Action Task Force (FATF)enrichment, integration with a workflow case management tool, andconsideration of factoring and future dated payment.

For liquidity, an embodiment of the present invention may be applied toNostro account management by client and by account; Nostro accountvisibility and optimization, and shadow balances on chain for liquiditymanagement. A Nostro account generally refers to an account that a bankholds in a foreign currency in another bank.

For foreign trades, an embodiment of the present invention may providevisibility into current bank rates for a transaction, FX contracts withmarkets, intelligent FX routing and FX netting.

For tokens, an embodiment of the present invention may issue tokens totrack use of value added services (VAS) or apps; issue tokens to billand collect revenue for use of VAS and apps and further create amechanism, e.g., corporate coin solution, that allows corporates totrack payments across their subsidiaries and accounts.

The foregoing examples show the various embodiments of the invention inone physical configuration; however, it is to be appreciated that thevarious components may be located at distant portions of a distributednetwork, such as a local area network, a wide area network, atelecommunications network, an intranet and/or the Internet. Thus, itshould be appreciated that the components of the various embodiments maybe combined into one or more devices, collocated on a particular node ofa distributed network, or distributed at various locations in a network,for example. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, thecomponents of the various embodiments may be arranged at any location orlocations within a distributed network without affecting the operationof the respective system.

As described above, the various embodiments of the present inventionsupport a number of communication devices and components, each of whichmay include at least one programmed processor and at least one memory orstorage device. The memory may store a set of instructions. Theinstructions may be either permanently or temporarily stored in thememory or memories of the processor. The set of instructions may includevarious instructions that perform a particular task or tasks, such asthose tasks described above. Such a set of instructions for performing aparticular task may be characterized as a program, software program,software application, app, or software.

It is appreciated that in order to practice the methods of theembodiments as described above, it is not necessary that the processorsand/or the memories be physically located in the same geographicalplace. That is, each of the processors and the memories used inexemplary embodiments of the invention may be located in geographicallydistinct locations and connected so as to communicate in any suitablemanner. Additionally, it is appreciated that each of the processorand/or the memory may be composed of different physical pieces ofequipment. Accordingly, it is not necessary that the processor be onesingle piece of equipment in one location and that the memory be anothersingle piece of equipment in another location. That is, it iscontemplated that the processor may be two or more pieces of equipmentin two or more different physical locations. The two distinct pieces ofequipment may be connected in any suitable manner. Additionally, thememory may include two or more portions of memory in two or morephysical locations.

As described above, a set of instructions is used in the processing ofvarious embodiments of the invention. The servers may include softwareor computer programs stored in the memory (e.g., non-transitory computerreadable medium containing program code instructions executed by theprocessor) for executing the methods described herein. The set ofinstructions may be in the form of a program or software or app. Thesoftware may be in the form of system software or application software,for example. The software might also be in the form of a collection ofseparate programs, a program module within a larger program, or aportion of a program module, for example. The software used might alsoinclude modular programming in the form of object oriented programming.The software tells the processor what to do with the data beingprocessed.

Further, it is appreciated that the instructions or set of instructionsused in the implementation and operation of the invention may be in asuitable form such that the processor may read the instructions. Forexample, the instructions that form a program may be in the form of asuitable programming language, which is converted to machine language orobject code to allow the processor or processors to read theinstructions. That is, written lines of programming code or source code,in a particular programming language, are converted to machine languageusing a compiler, assembler or interpreter. The machine language isbinary coded machine instructions that are specific to a particular typeof processor, i.e., to a particular type of computer, for example. Anysuitable programming language may be used in accordance with the variousembodiments of the invention. For example, the programming language usedmay include assembly language, Ada, APL, Basic, C, C++, COBOL, dBase,Forth, Fortran, Java, Modula-2, Pascal, Prolog, REXX, Visual Basic,and/or JavaScript. Further, it is not necessary that a single type ofinstructions or single programming language be utilized in conjunctionwith the operation of the system and method of the invention. Rather,any number of different programming languages may be utilized as isnecessary or desirable.

Also, the instructions and/or data used in the practice of variousembodiments of the invention may utilize any compression or encryptiontechnique or algorithm, as may be desired. An encryption module might beused to encrypt data. Further, files or other data may be decryptedusing a suitable decryption module, for example.

In the system and method of exemplary embodiments of the invention, avariety of “user interfaces” may be utilized to allow a user tointerface with the mobile devices 120, 130 or other personal computingdevice. As used herein, a user interface may include any hardware,software, or combination of hardware and software used by the processorthat allows a user to interact with the processor of the communicationdevice. A user interface may be in the form of a dialogue screenprovided by an app, for example. A user interface may also include anyof touch screen, keyboard, voice reader, voice recognizer, dialoguescreen, menu box, list, checkbox, toggle switch, a pushbutton, a virtualenvironment (e.g., Virtual Machine (VM)/cloud), or any other device thatallows a user to receive information regarding the operation of theprocessor as it processes a set of instructions and/or provide theprocessor with information. Accordingly, the user interface may be anysystem that provides communication between a user and a processor. Theinformation provided by the user to the processor through the userinterface may be in the form of a command, a selection of data, or someother input, for example.

The software, hardware and services described herein may be providedutilizing one or more cloud service models, such asSoftware-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), andInfrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), and/or using one or more deploymentmodels such as public cloud, private cloud, hybrid cloud, and/orcommunity cloud models.

Although, the examples above have been described primarily as using asoftware application (“app”) downloaded onto the customer's mobiledevice, other embodiments of the invention can be implemented usingsimilar technologies, such as transmission of data that is displayedusing an existing web browser on the customer's mobile device.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been describedherein in the context of a particular implementation in a particularenvironment for a particular purpose, those skilled in the art willrecognize that its usefulness is not limited thereto and that theembodiments of the present invention can be beneficially implemented inother related environments for similar purposes.

1.-20. (canceled)
 21. A system that implements a secure anddecentralized network, the system comprising: a first bank nodecommunicatively coupled to a first in-bank system; a second bank nodecommunicatively coupled to a second in-bank system; and an interbankinformation network that establishes a direct communication channelbetween the first node and the second node, wherein the first bank nodeis configured to: receive payment instructions to make a payment to asecond bank node; send an inquiry message to the second bank node over adistributed ledger network; receive, from the second bank node, aresponse to the inquiry message over the distributed ledger network; andprocess a payment pursuant to the payment instructions and responsive tothe response to the inquiry message.
 22. The system of claim 21, whereinthe inquiry message comprises a message that requests the second banknode to share client data.
 23. The system of claim 22, wherein theclient data comprises confirming one or more client details.
 24. Thesystem of claim 22, wherein the client data comprises an account opendate.
 25. The system of claim 22, wherein the client data comprisesaccount activity.
 26. The system of claim 22, wherein the inquirymessage is fraud or risk related.
 27. A system that implements a secureand decentralized network, the system comprising: a first bank nodecommunicatively coupled to a first in-bank system; a second bank nodecommunicatively coupled to a second in-bank system; and an interbankinformation network that establishes a direct communication channelbetween the first node and the second node, wherein the first bank nodeis configured to: receive payment instructions to make a payment to asecond bank node; send a request message to the second bank node over adistributed ledger network; receive, from the second bank node, aresponse to the request message over the distributed ledger network,wherein the second bank node receives the request message, processes oneor more transaction details and generates a response; and process apayment pursuant to the payment instructions and responsive to theresponse to the request message.
 28. The system of claim 27, wherein thesecond bank node implements one or more fraud or risk tools to generatethe response.
 29. The system of claim 27, wherein the second bank nodeexecutes business intelligence to generate the response.
 30. The systemof claim 27, wherein the second bank node requests one or more detailsfrom a third node.
 31. A method that implements a secure anddecentralized network, the method comprising the steps of: receiving, ata first bank node, payment instructions to make a payment to a secondbank node, wherein the first bank node is communicatively coupled to afirst in-bank system; sending, to a second bank node, an inquiry messageover a distributed ledger network, wherein the second bank node iscommunicatively coupled to a second in-bank system and wherein aninterbank information network establishes a direct communication channelbetween the first node and the second node; receiving, from the secondbank node, a response to the inquiry message over the distributed ledgernetwork; and processing a payment pursuant to the payment instructionsand responsive to the response to the inquiry message.
 32. The method ofclaim 31, wherein the inquiry message comprises a message that requeststhe second bank node to share client data.
 33. The method of claim 32,wherein the client data comprises confirming one or more client details.34. The method of claim 32, wherein the client data comprises an accountopen date.
 35. The method of claim 32, wherein the client data comprisesaccount activity.
 36. The method of claim 32, wherein the inquirymessage is fraud or risk related.
 37. A method that implements a secureand decentralized network, the method comprising the steps of:receiving, at a first bank node, payment instructions to make a paymentto a second bank node, wherein the first bank node is communicativelycoupled to a first in-bank system; sending, to a second bank node, arequest message over a distributed ledger network, wherein the secondbank node is communicatively coupled to a second in-bank system andwherein an interbank information network establishes a directcommunication channel between the first node and the second node;receiving, from the second bank node, a response to the request messageover the distributed ledger network, wherein the second bank nodereceives the request message, processes one or more transaction detailsand generates a response; and processing a payment pursuant to thepayment instructions and responsive to the response to the requestmessage.
 38. The method of claim 37, wherein the second bank nodeimplements one or more fraud or risk tools to generate the response. 39.The method of claim 37, wherein the second bank node executes businessintelligence to generate the response.
 40. The method of claim 37,wherein the second bank node requests one or more details from a thirdnode.